1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of applying a metallic guide band to the body of a projectile and also relates to the banded projectile body proper.
2. Description of the Background
One or more circumferential guide bands are provided in the tail region of artillery projectiles. These guide bands are metal rings which rest in corresponding annular grooves on the surface of the projectile body. The thickness of a guide band is greater than the depth of the associated annular groove so that the guide band projects outwardly out of the surface of the projectile body.
For firing, the projectile is pressed into a gun barrel provided with so-called rifling and lands. The guide bands are deformed in a manner corresponding to the shape of the rifling and lands in order to reliably perform their guide function during firing of the projectile.
Consequently, the guide bands must have a certain ductility and sufficient stability to transfer the optimum spin to the projectile during its ejection. This also requires a reliable connection with the projectile body since considerable transverse forces act on the projectile body during use. This steady connection is attained by pressing the guide bands into the corresponding annular grooves in which they are firmly seated.
The configuration of the above-described annular groove has the drawback of mechanically weakening the corresponding part of the projectile body. This drawback becomes the more noticeable, the thinner the wall of the projectile is. This results in corresponding limitations.
Thus, for the most part, present-day projectile bodies must still have a thickness of more than ten millimeters.